Henry Baker
|birth_place = London, England |death_date = |death_place = |residence = |citizenship = |nationality = England |ethnicity = |field = Naturalist |work_institutions = |alma_mater = |doctoral_advisor = |doctoral_students = |known_for = Microscopical |author_abbrev_bot = |author_abbrev_zoo = |influences = |influenced = |prizes = (1744) Copley gold medal |religion = |footnotes = |signature = }} Henry Baker FRS (8 May 1698 - 25 November 1774) was an English poet and naturalist. Life Baker was born in Chancery Lane, London, the son of William Baker, a clerk in chancery. In his 15th year he was apprenticed to John Parker, a bookseller. At the close of his indentures in 1720, Baker went on a visit to John Forster, a relative, who had a deaf-mute daughter, then eight years old. As a successful therapist of deaf people, he went on to make money, by a system that he kept secret.Thomas Findlay Henderson, "Baker, Henry (1698-1774), Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 3. Wiksource, Apr. 24, 2016. His work as therapist caught the attention of Daniel Defoe, whose youngest daughter Sophia he married in 1729. He was one of the founders of the Society of Arts in 1754, and for some time acted as its secretary. He died in London. ''Universal Spectator'' Under the name of Henry Stonecastle, Baker was associated with Daniel Defoe in starting the Universal Spectator and Weekly Journal in 1728. Defoe in fact did little except at the launch of the publication, intended as an essay-sheet rather than a newspaper. It appeared until 1746, running to 907 issues. Baker's involvement as editor continued until 1733.Dr. Henry Baker, English Poetry, 1579-1830, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. Web, Apr. 24, 2016. Among the major early contributors was John Kelly. Writing Baker contributed many monographs to the Transactions of the Royal Society. Among his publications were The Microscope made Easy (1743), Employment for the Microscope (1753),Baker, M., 1753. Employment for the microscope. Dodsley, London, 403 pp. where he noted down the presence of dinoflagellates for the first time as "Animalcules which cause the Sparkling Light in Sea Water".Baker's description of the polyp was translated into French by Pierre Demours in 1744. http://www.idref.fr/033083916#730. He wrote several volumes of verse, original and translated, including The Universe: A poem intended to restrain the Pride of Man, 1727. Recognition Baker was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in January 1740, and of the Royal Society in March 1740. In 1744 he received the Copley gold medal for microscopical observations on the crystallization of saline particles. His name is perpetuated by the Bakerian Lecture of the Royal Society, for the foundation of which he left by will the sum of £100. Publications Poetry *''An Invocation of Health: A poem''. London: privately published, 1723. *''Original Poems: Serious and humorous. London: privately published, 1725. *''Second Part of 'Original Poems'. London: privately publishe, 1726. *''The Universe: A philosophical poem, intended to restrain the pride of man''. London: T. Worral, 1727; Dublin: R. James, 1749. Non-fiction *''The Microscope Made Easy. London: R. Dodsley, 1742. *An Attempt Towards a Natural History of the Polype. London: R. Dodsley, 1743. *''Employment for the microscope. London: R. Dodsley, 1753. *''Of Microscopes, and the Discoveries Made Thereby''. (2 volumes), London: J. Dodsley, 1760. *''Employment for the Microscope; in two parts. London: R. & J. Dodsley, 1764. Translated *''Medulla Poetarum Romanorum; or, The most beautiful and instructive passages of the Roman poets, with translations in English verse. (2 volumes), London: D. Midwinter, et al, 1737. *''The works of Moliere'' [translated with James Miller). (8 volumes), London: John Watts, 1739; (10 volumes), London: D. Browne & A. Miller, 1755. Volume I, Volume II, Volume III, Volume IV, Volume V, Volume VI, Volume VII, Volume VIII, Volume IX, [ Edited *''The Universal Spectator, and Weekly Journal (as "Henry Stonecastle"). London: J. Roberts, 1728-33; (4 volumes), London: J. Pemberton, A. Ward, E. Symon, J. Clarke, D. Browne, R. Nutt, T. Worral, & T. Astley, 1736. Except where noted, bibliographical informtion courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Henry Baker, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Apr. 23, 2016. See also *List of British poets References * George Rousseau. The Letters and Private Papers of Sir John Hill. New York: AMS Press, 1981. ISBN 0-404-61472-8. Provides much biographical material about Baker in the Royal Society, and his Monday and Wednesday club of FRS at his London house. Notes External links ;Poems *"An Invocation of Health" (excerpt) *Henry Baker at Poetry Nook (4 poems) *Henry Baker at PoemHunter (140 poems) ;Prose *"To Meanwell: On Jealousy" ;Books *Baker, Henry (1743) [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/nat_hist/id/23570 An attempt towards a natural history of the polype, in a letter to Martin Folkes...] - digital facsimile from the Linda Hall Library *Baker, Henry (1743)[http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/color/id/26876 The microscope made easy] - digital facsimile from the Linda Hall Library ;About *Dr. Henry Baker(1698-1774) at English Poetry, 1579-1830 * Baker, Henry (1698-1774) Category:1698 births Category:1774 deaths Category:People from London Category:English naturalists Category:Fellows of the Royal Society Category:Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Category:Microscopists Category:Recipients of the Copley Medal Category:18th-century English people Category:18th-century poets Category:English poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets